2014 AAAS Symposium

Discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, or national origin was outlawed in many countries in the latter half of the 20th century. Despite this, differential treatment of people by race and color has persisted, and new forms of racism—here termed neoracism—are being invented. Most forms of neoracism are covert, and are based on assumptions that groups of people called races actually exist and that they differ systematically in aspects of biology, behavior, and/or culture. In this symposium, speakers examine some of the causes and manifestations of neoracism, including the rise of new biomedical and genomic constructs of race, the growth of colorism in communities of color, the historical development of racist ideologies and their rhetoric, and the effects of race labeling and racial iconography on attitudes and performance. Presenters will demonstrate that the persistence of deep-seated beliefs in biogenetic determinism has wide-ranging detrimental effects, including low levels of interest and belief in evolution and the pursuit of education and careers in science. The lived experience of racism and neoracism will be discussed with respect to its effects on human social well-being and health, and on the future of science.